Free Republic

A fast-spreading virus that can kill 80 percent of piglets that contract it is rapidly spreading across Missouri hog farms, wiping out entire nurseries in some cases. Porcine epidemic diarrhea has killed 4 million to 5 million pigs nationwide, or about 4 percent of the pigs that would go to market later this year, The Joplin Globe reported. . . . . "We're adding 300 farms per week to the list of infected farms. I think most all will wind up with the disease," Plain said. "The average slaughter age is 6 months. So we will see the impact of...

In 2008, California voters endorsed Proposition 2 which banned the confinement of animals. California egg producers had to ensure that chickens had enough room to move around which negated so-called “factory farming” and would end up raising the price of eggs by 20%.Obviously this was a problem for California agriculture which would have trouble competing on price with free agriculture. And there’s only so much of a market for fair-trade free-range organic chickens lovingly raised in a Quaker school by social justice experts on a strict diet of granola and NPR broadcasts.And so California’s reds decided to instead raise the...

This was the flag of slave holding states in the United States that seceded in 1861, causing Civil War. Today the symbol is used by the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi groups, and other organizations who are hostile to African-Americans. For the last several decades, protests have continued, demanding that this flag not be displayed in public places. Many people were greatly disturbed to see that the Confederate Flag is now being displayed, not in the United States, but in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. Larry Holmes, a civil rights activist in New York City, explained why the flag is...

A Fenton woman recently shot at intruders who entered her home. (snip) The woman woke at 3 a.m. when she heard a noise. She got up, grabbed her gun and went downstairs to investigate. She fired three shots and the men ran away.

Missouri drivers could be able to buy a higher blend of ethanol gasoline by this summer. A proposed rule allowing the sale of gasoline with a 15 percent ethanol blend has been on hold since last October when it was temporarily blocked by a Missouri legislative committee. To permanently stop the rule, the full Legislature would need to pass a resolution by Monday...

Despite growing controversy over the use of anonymous pharmacies for lethal injections, the U.S. Supreme Court has thus far declined to block any executions based on 11th-hour appeals challenging the drug connections. That includes the case of Michael Taylor, a convicted rapist and murderer who was put to death at 12:10 a.m. Wednesday in Missouri after a furious legal battle that stretched well into the night. It's worth nothing, however, that three high court justices wanted to block Taylor's execution and cited the words of an appeals judge who said so little was known about the source of the deadly...

A Missouri inmate was executed early Wednesday for abducting, raping and killing a Kansas City teenager as she waited for her school bus in 1989, marking the state's fourth lethal injection in as many months. Michael Taylor, 47, was pronounced dead at 12: 10 a.m. at the state prison in Bonne Terre. Federal courts and the governor had refused last-minute appeals from his attorneys, who argued that the execution drug purchased from a compounding pharmacy could have caused Taylor inhuman pain and suffering.

Say hello to Obamacare’s latest technocratic gimmick — the Accountable Care Organization (ACO). The first of these federally-chartered Pioneer ACO groups of healthcare providers just recently launched. Proponents of ACOs claim that the new entities will help doctors and hospitals better coordinate care in order to improve the health of Medicare patients and reduce costs. Don’t count on it. Instead of helping doctors and patients to make individualized treatment decisions, ACOs will empower government bureaucrats to consolidate healthcare providers into top-down organizations and dictate how care is delivered — at greater cost. According to Obamacare’s supporters, ACOs will streamline communication...

The Dingell dynasty dates back to the era of FDR and there’s very little that can stop it from rolling on. Rep. John Dingell announced Monday he’s leaving the seat he took over from his father nearly six decades ago. And now his wife, Debbie Dingell, is planning to announce in the district Friday her candidacy for the open seat, according to a source close to Dingell. Dingell wasted no time putting together a campaign apparatus Monday, holding a conference call last night with her husband’s former aides. She also may sever ties with the American Automotive Policy Council where...

The Talk Shows February 23rd, 2014 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.; Govs. Scott Walker, R-Wis., and Peter Shumlin, D-Vt.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): National Security Adviser Susan Rice.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Govs. Bobby Jindal, R-La., and Martin O'Malley, D-Md.THIS WEEK (ABC): Former President George W. Bush.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Govs. Rick Perry, R-Texas, Mike Pence, R-Ind., Dannel Malloy, D-Conn., Jay Nixon D-Mo.

JEFFERSON CITY – The House Appropriations – Education Committee cut deeply today into Gov. Jay Nixon’s proposals for public schools and higher education, slashing his planned increases by more than $200 million. But committee Chairman Mike Lair, R-Chillicothe, found $8 to address a pressing problem. The money is to be used “for two rolls of high density aluminum to create headgear designed to deflect drone and/or black helicopter mind reading and control technology.” On the summary sheet handed out to lawmakers, the money is slated for “tin foil hats” and was tied to an amendment removing language barring the state...

Former high school teacher, Representative Mike Lair (R-Chillicothe), chair of the state education appropriations committee, is bucking to become former Republican representative to the Missouri House from Caldwell, Carroll, Clinton, and Livingston Counties. This week Mike made the terminal decision to hi-jack the state appropriations process to insert “$8 for tin foil hats,” according to Missouri.net. “The line item’s exact language reads, ‘For two rolls of high-density aluminum to create headgear designed to deflect drone and/or black helicopter mind reading and control technology.’” The line item is was inserted to chastise all those anti-Common Core activists who seem to have...

A Missouri grade school coach has been charged in the murder and kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl whose suspected body was found in his basement with what police said was a gunshot wound to the head. Craig Wood, a football coach and teacher's aide at Springfield's Pleasant View K-8 School, was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the death of Hailey Owens, whose body police believe was found in a storage bin. The little girl was last seen walking just a block from her home at 4:48 p.m. Tuesday when a terrified couple called 911 to report her seen being...

Police worked a crime scene all night at 1538 E. Stanford St. as they investigated the kidnapping and murder of 10-year-old Hailey Owens. She was taken from the 3200 block of West Lombard Street as she walked from a friend's home to her home two blocks away late Tuesday afternoon.

Researchers claim a new study provides some of the most compelling evidence yet for tighter gun controls in the US. The team followed the consequences of the State of Missouri repealing its permit-to-purchase handgun law in 2007. The law had required purchasers to be vetted by the local sheriff and to receive a licence before buying a gun. Reporting soon in the Journal of Urban Health, the researchers will say that the repeal resulted in an immediate spike in gun violence and murders. The study links the abandonment of the background check to an additional 60 or so murders occurring...

Year after year, Kansas City has one of the highest murder rates in America. But why? As The Star’s Editorial Board embarks on a closer examination of the homicide issue in 2014, it’s crucial to first review figures regarding some of the usual suspects — such as racial demographics and poverty rates — often labeled as contributing factors behind violent crimes. The frustrating conclusion: There’s no clear demographic or economic explanation for why Kansas Citians too often kill each other. Here’s a deeper look at reported murder rates for the 50 largest U.S. cities in 2012, the last full year...

Several firearms were taken in a break-in at the Bass Pro Shops in Independence, police said.

Two Republican lawmakers in Missouri have now filed articles of impeachment against the state's Democratic governor, Jay Nixon. State Rep. Mike Moon (R) became the latest GOP legislator to join the effort to remove Nixon, after state Rep. Nick Marshall (R) put the wheels in motion earlier this month. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Moon's articles of impeachment cited Nixon's failure to call a special election to fill a vacant congressional seat in Missouri. Marshall, on the other hand, was driven to take action after Nixon issued an executive order last year permitting same-sex couples married in other states...

Roland Martin took to the airwaves Monday with his “NewsOne Now” panel to discuss the coming out of football player Michael Sam. The discussion took many turns, including into Martin’s insistence that Sam’s position not be compared to that of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in baseball. “On Twitter last night I talked about Jackie Robinson and folks are always making the comparisons,” said Martin. “I’m very clear: Jackie Robinson was the first black player. He came into the league when racism…you can’t even remotely compare it. Sam is potentially coming into the NFL with a support system,...

A federal judge in Missouri ruled this week held that drivers have a First Amendment right to flash their headlights to warn other motorists of nearby police and speed traps. The order by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey in St. Louis on Monday stems from a lawsuit filed by Ellisville resident Michael Elli. In 2012, Elli flashed his headlights to warn oncoming vehicles of a radar set up by police in the town of Ellisville. A flash of headlights is a common way motorists communicate to oncoming drivers of either a dangerous situation or the presence of police —...